“Why are you wearing a long sleeve shirt?” I ask my sweet friend Shazia, on the swing set during recess. It was a hot, muggy day in Minnesota, and as I wore shorts and my favorite pink top, it made no sense to me why she would wear pants and a long sleeve shirt. “Because Kayla!” She scoffed back at [...]Read More
Stephanie Leonardi: Why I am doing El Camino
INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE (LEO): What made you decide to do El Camino? I decided to do El Camino after it was first mentioned at CCDA this past November. I was completely drawn to it, and felt like I was committed instantly. Now that there are only days before the walk, I have piled up a list [...]Read More
Anna Castellanos: Why I am doing El Camino
Eighteen months ago, my father, my brother, and I took our first steps on El Camino de Santiago, a centuries-old pilgrimage that stretched from one end of Spain to the other. To take a step is a simple act, so small and subconscious that we often forget were walking at all. The difference between [...]Read More
Walkin Towards the New “We”
Growing up in a predominately white upper-middle class world, my concept of “we” had limits that needed expanding. Sports, travel, and education all played their part in this expansion; the more I grew in years and wisdom, and the more friendships I found, my concept of “we” grew in its capacity [...]Read More
Sojourners Together: Carey Franklin’s Story
I recently had the opportunity to share a dinner table with a lively bunch of fellow sojourners. The faces, young and old, around the table represented Asia, Europe, North, Central and South America. We were sharing life stories, and as I sat there, I couldn't help but feel like I was experiencing a [...]Read More
Neal Brubaker: Why I am doing El Camino
I am ill-informed In the vast world of immigration where there are so many issues, perspectives, and stories, I am still far behind in what I know. On an issue that affects millions of people, sometimes in a life and death manner, I remain relatively unaware. You could correctly say that my [...]Read More
Bill Francis: Why I am doing El Camino
I am a white, middle-class, 51 year-old American male. My ancestral family’s last immigration to America now happened well over 100 years ago, from Denmark. So my heritage hasn’t really informed me when it comes to the issue of immigration. I am also a second-generation, Christian minister and [...]Read More
Marco Grimaldo: Why I am doing El Camino
From Abosolo, Progresso, Ciudad Victoria, and San Luis Potosi I was six years old the first time that my parents took me on a “marcha;" a march for equal rights. I didn’t know it then, but my father had joined other leaders in a federal lawsuit to require equal education for Mexican-American [...]Read More